Joe Sills
Verified
(He/Him)
As seen in:
Forbes,
CNN en Español,
MSN,
MSN Brasil,
MSN Canada,
Yahoo Entertainment,
Business Insider,
TIME,
Yahoo Canada,
Yahoo News,
Yahoo News Malaysia
and
Covers:
Travel, conservation, ecotourism, science communication, hospitality, adventure, outdoors.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
IGN.com, as a 14-year-old writer covering Macintosh.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Love it.
How is social media changing news?
What is real anymore? Who has an attention span? How can we still tell compelling stories in short bursts?
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Real journalists that toed the line of fiction: Hunter S. Thompson and George Plimpton. Imagined characters: Clark Kent, Ghostwriter.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
A duty to tell compelling, truthful stories that inspire people to action.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
No clue.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Give me the details and tell me why it matters. Rates upfront.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Adobe Suite, Pages, Otter, etc.
What's your favorite social network?
Let's burn them all down. If I have to pick, Instagram.
Who do you wish followed you?
Anyone who cares about reading and critical thinking.
Why did you become a journalist?
To inspire future generations of people to travel outside of their comfort zones.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
My high school didn't have a newspaper, but I did run the sports section of our local small town newspaper in high school.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
I'm most proud of my work on human/wildlife conflict, a daily podcast series from the Arctic and profiles of inspirational humans.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Diversify your skillset and believe in telling stories with heart—even if nobody else believes in them with you.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Monday morning is email time.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
I'm usually writing the pitches.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Anything related to "your city is the worst" at this.
What's your favorite drink?
Cream soda.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Behind the camera.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The Atlantic
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
Travel writers are not wealthy.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.